A group of attractive teens sat in a restaurant, waiting for their food. A short brunette with big eyes was sitting in between a loud blonde and a stoic boy with black hair. Across from them sat identical boys with spiked, orange hair, a "boy"with wavy, light-brown hair, and a raven-haired boy with glasses. The waiters and waitresses of the mall restaurant couldn't help but stare at the group; they have never seen such a large group of attractive guys.
"I love American food. Actually, I love food in general," I looked at the group, grinning.
"For a commoner restaurant, the service here isn't that bad," said the Hitachiins.
"For a bunch of rich jerks like you, you guys aren't that bad," I mimicked their voices while glaring at the twins. Haruhi chuckled from the other side. The Hitachiins didn't look mad though, instead they looked at me funny.
"Wow," said Kaoru.
"You actually sounded like us," finished Hikaru.
"Well I've been around you guys long enough to know what your voices sound like," I rolled my eyes.
"Can you imitate the other Host's voices too Akari chan?" Honey tilted his adorable blonde head to the side.
"Yup!" I gave him a bright smile.
"You know I really find it hard to believe that you're actually older than me Honey senpai, you're so much cuter than a lot of kids I've known. Sometimes I just want to cuddle you like a little teddy bear!" He giggled cutely.
"Could you imitate me Akari-chan?"
"Sure!" How could I say no to that face? I did his twinkling giggle, switching to adorable mode.
"Hika-chan, Kao-chan! Do you guys want to eat some cake with me? It's reeeeaaaally good!~" I had glomped on Hikaru the way Honey would glomp on other people, and I gave him the adorable smile with flowers of moe sprouting. Hikaru gaped at me, then he turned away. Probably creeped out. I thought I heard Kyoya grumble something under his breath.
"Wow! That sounded just like me!" Honey senpai's eyes were wide from amazement.
"Yeah," was all Mori said.
"Imitate me now!" Tamaki talked a little too loud. I let go of Hikaru and straightened my back, then I imitated Tamaki's big frantic eyes and tried looking completely childish. Flailing my arms as if I was panicked, I turned to the twins and said:
"You two boys stop harassing my little girls! MAMA!" I didn't say the last part as loud as Tamaki would, but I turned my head to look at Kyoya how Tamaki looked at him whenever the twins were messing with Haruhi and I. Kyoya had a poker face on, he had temporarily looked up from the notes that he had been taking.
The twins bursted out laughing.
"You even got his idiot face right!" Kaoru gasped in between laughs.
"Akari senpai, you really sounded like him," Haruhi said.
"I thought I told you to just call me Akari, we're friends!" I leaned back on my chair in a reclined manner, and folded my hands behind my head.
"Sorry, I'm still getting used to it," Haruhi smiled. I grinned back.
"Have you considered doing voice acting?" Tamaki said. I don't know how the guy always looked so sincere.
"Not really, but it does sound fun," my phone buzzed. Ugh. It was probably Erai. Again. I pretended I didn't hear it. When the Hosts became occupied talking with each other, I snuck a peak at my phone. He had been texting and calling me nonstop, which was very annoying. Fifty missed called and thirty unread messages. How clingy was this guy going to get?!
"Whose that?" Hikaru rested his chin on my shoulder. I snapped my phone shut.
"Walt Disney," I flicked him in the forehead.
"OW!" He immediately got off and rubbed his forehead, which was red. He glared at me.
"What was that for?" He sounded annoyed. I just smirked at him, then stuck my tongue out like a child. He grumbled angrily to himself as he kept on rubbing his forehead. Kyoya looked pleased, as well as Tamaki.
"Your food has arrived!" The waitress had popped out of nowhere and was now serving our food. She wore a smile on her face, and she carefully set down some of our food.
"Nice!" I sat upright and smiled at the food while rubbing my hands.
10 minutes later...
"Well, I'm full." I burped loudly, my plate clean. The other Hosts gave me looks of, disgust?
"How rude," Kyoya shot me an annoyed look before continuing to eat his hamburger. He ate it like how anyone else would eat it to my surprise. I thought he was going to straight-up use a fork and a knife to eat it!
"You shouldn't eat too fast, you'll get indigestion," said Haruhi.
"Says the girl who ate fifty crab legs less than ten minutes," I rolled my eyes at her.
"A proper young woman shouldn't act like that! I'm just going to have to teach you some manners!" Tamaki waved his slender finger at me, scolding me the way a grandmother would.
"But I am well-mannered. As commoners, after we eat a very pleasant meal, it is customary for us to burp loudly. The louder we burp, the more polite we're being. It's saying 'thank you for the meal," I said in a serious voice and face. Of course Tamaki fell for the prank. I saw Kyoya smirk a bit from the corner of my eye, nothing could fool him.
"Oh my! I'm very sorry then! Please forgive my misunderstanding. Gentlemen, you heard her! After we eat be sure to give the waitress the loudest burp you can manage!" To my dismay, Honey senpai, Mori senpai, and the twins seemed to buy it as well. Haruhi had caught on, but she didn't say anything. We shot each other knowing grins.
Sure enough, after everyone had finished eating their meals and the waitress came by, they all burped very loudly(except for Kyoya and Haruhi). And repeatedly. I joined of course, and Haruhi smiled through the whole ordeal. The waitress looked horrified, but she still smiled nervously and collected our plates and gave us our check. She left us, extremely confused.
"I think our message was clear!" Said Tamaki with a triumphant look on his face.
"Uh huh!" said Honey senpai. Mori didn't say anything and looked stoic as always. I grabbed the check so that I could pay for dinner.
"No no! Let us treat you! I'll pay!" Tamaki tried prying the check away from me. I held it to my chest.
"Look guys, I really want to treat you today. Even though I've only known you guys for a month now, you all have a very special place in my heart. I'm really glad we're friends, and right now this is the only way I can really show my appreciation for you guys," I gave them a natural, genuine smile. I had looked at all of them while I had been talking. Tamaki and the others looked stunned. They didn't really say anything for a couple of seconds.
"That's so sweet Akari chan!" Honey senpai spoke up first.
"So touching! We love you too Akari!" The twins glomped on me. Well, Hikaru glomped on me and Kaoru glomped on Hikaru. The weight led me crashing into Kyoya.
"Sorry," I smiled up at him sheepishly as I was being crushed by the clones. My face was squashed against his arm awkwardly.
"Hikaru, Kaoru, get off," he said coolly. They obeyed right away.
"If that is what you want, of course we'll let you pay! And Akari, you should know that you are also very special to us. And Haruhi is too!" The King had dramatically teared up, and he had grabbed Haruhi and started snuggling her. She looked unamused. I chuckled.
"Great! Besides, I'm rich so yeah." I signed the receipt, left the money(in cash) on it, and I left around twenty dollars as a tip for the waitress. I felt a bit bad about the burping thing from earlier. We all exited the restaurant chatting and smiling.
"Hey guys, have you ever had frozen yogurt before?"I asked curiously.
"What's that?" The twins asked in unison. I stopped dead in my tracks and gaped at them.
"We are going to eat frozen yogurt right now." Without giving them time to reply, I grabbed the Hitachiins and started running toward the Froyo I spotted earlier.
"Follow meeeeeee!" I heard the other Hosts running to catch up with me. I stopped abruptly in front of the frozen yogurt place and hurled the twins in front of the entrance. They almost lost their balance and crashed into the door, but they steadied themselves.
"You could've been gentler!" The twins said in annoyance. I waved a shaky finger at all the Hosts.
"You must have frozen yogurt right now!" I pushed the twins, Tamaki, and Haruhi through the door. I knew better than to manhandle the other three, so I just smiled and gestured for them to step in.
"Is frozen yogurt like ice-cream Akari-chan?" Honey senapi asked me.
"Yup, but better since you can add a lot more toppings and combine more flavors!" I grinned at him like a child. He giggled and stepped inside. Mori and Kyoya entered soundlessly. I skipped inside once everyone was in. The frozen yogurt guy seemed surprised at the sudden arrival of customers.
I taught everyone how frozen yogurt worked, and that you could add whatever you wanted at any of the flavor stations. Honey senpai,Tamaki and the Hitachiins hung onto my every word and looked at me with wide, sparkling eyes filled with awe. Kyoya jotted some notes as he observed the store and listened to me at the same time. Haruhi listened attentively but calmly, like how Mori senpai did.
"Understand?" I asked the group after I had explained everything.
"Yeah!" The two blondes and the two gingers took off immediately, excitedly trying to decide where to go first. Kyoya went over to the seating area and took a seat, and Mori calmly followed Honey.
"C'mon Haruhi," I looped my arm around her's, and I looked down at her while smiling.
"I'm not sure if I can eat anymore, I'm really full," Haruhi said.
"How bout we share then? You can just eat a couple spoonfuls just to try."
"Sure," she smiled back and we walked off to pick our flavors. We finished picking after the others, and I went to the worker to pay. Haruhi went back to the seating area with everyone else because I told her to.
"I'd like to buy this piece of deliciousness please," I smiled at him. He had normal brown eyes, and shaggy black hair. He eyed me up and down.
"Of course," he weighed my froyo and determined how much I had to pay.
"Just out of curiosity, are you a guy or a girl?" Usually that question never bothered me, but...The way he said it made me feel uneasy.
"I'm a girl, but I get mistaken as a guy a lot since my name is gender-neutral and I have short hair," I said cheerfully. He scoffed and looked at me with disgust. My smile dropped.
"That's not the only reason," he squinted at my chest area distastefully. My face turned red, but I tried staying calm.
"H-How much do I have to pay?" I asked as I looked away from him.
"1,808.77 yen" He still eyed me up and down. Although he didn't say anything else as I paid, I could tell he was thinking that I failed at being a girl. His expression said it all. I was unfeminine in every aspect. Sure, I was a pretty boy but...I wasn't a pretty girl. I didn't look him in the eye, and my face still was really red. I took the yogurt and walked back to the table.
"This is really good Akari-chan!"
"Picking it out was more fun though!" Tamaki looked at me like a happy puppy. I plastered on the smile I usually had.
"That's great!" I sat down on the edge next to Kyoya, it was the only open spot.
"Here Haruhi, try some!" I said in feigned cheerfulness. I shoved a spoonful of frozen yogurt into Haruhi's mouth, but she liked it. She ended up having to eat all of it, I told her I wasn't feeling too well.
"Did you eat too fast?" Asked Kyoya.
"Yeah! But don't worry about it. I'm fine, really. I could just drink some soda when we go home, then I'll be alright." I gave him my fake smile. The other's bought my act and continued chattering and eating their froyo. Kyoya would glance at me from time to time, but I just blankly started off into space.
Am I really that unfeminine? To the point that people were disgusted by me? Was...was I an ugly girl? Was I just so unattractive and unappealing that no guy could ever like me? I stared down at the table, the voices of the other Hosts became muffled. I shut out their voices, and only heard my own in my head.
So you finally realized it. You're unattractive and useless.
No I'm not! I have my quirks but everyone does, I'm me and no one else's opinion should matter!
But you're bothered by what that boy had to say. You're bothered because you know that he's right.
He's not.
He is. You know it. You're not a pretty girl, and you never will be. You're body doesn't curve in the right places and no matter what dress you wear you'll always look awkward. Accept the truth, don't deny it.
"Akari?" A voice broke my train of thought.
"Eh?" I looked up to find the Host club staring at me.
"Are you alright? You've been staring at the table without moving for a while now, and we're all done eating so we were about to leave," Tamaki's violet eyes were etched with concern.
"Yeah, just tired," I said casually while leaning back. I also yawned while rubbing my eyes; I'm a good actress, so everyone believed me.
"We should get going then, it's going to be dark soon." Kyoya stood, and the rest of us joined him. We walked towards the exit, I didn't tell them to throw away their empty cups on purpose. Have fun cleaning that up, jerk. I was the last one to exit the store. When I was about to leave, he walked past me.
"See you later, flat chest," the boy sneered. I paused for a brief moment, before walking out of the store without saying anything.
Kyoya looked at me with concern.
"Did he say anything to you?" Although he said it coolly and calmly, I could tell he was worried.
"Nah," I gave him a forced smile and we walked on in silence. The twins and Tamaki all chattered away with Haruhi until we were outside of the mall, in front of two limos that had been waiting for us.
"We will drive you girls home!" Tamaki declared dramatically. I gave him a grin.
"Thank for the free lift then!"
"Actually, I need to talk to Akari about next week's theme for the Host club. You don't mind if I talk to her for a little bit and take her home, right?" That was more of a command. Tamaki and the others gave him "permission," brushing off his request. I waved to the others goodbye until their limos were gone. After the sleek cars disappeared, I remembered that I had left my skateboard and my tea in one of Tamaki's limos.
"Fruit crackers! My tea and skateboard! They're still in Tamaki's limo!" I looked at Kyoya in panic. He raised an eyebrow, looking amused.
"Don't worry about it, I'll let him know later. " He turned on his heel and walked away from me. Assuming he wanted me to follow him, I jogged to catch up with him.
"So...um...Er...Yeah..." Wow. Didn't I sound like a genius.
"We're going to a nearby café, I want some tea,"he answered my unsaid question. I looked at him as he pulled out his cell phone and called his chauffeur to pick us up thirty minutes later.
Huh, he's really good-looking. Well, all the other Hosts are handsome too but...I dunno why but he looks a little bit better...Wait! What am I thinking?! Wait...why is he taking me to the cafe alone? Did I do something wrong?! Oh no! Maybe he's still mad about me accidentally hitting him with a book...Is he going to send me to Alaska? I guess he is. Sigh. Living in an Igloo sounds pretty cool actually...
After he hung up, he shot me an irritated look. Oh...I was still looking at him.
"Stop staring at me," he said.
"Sorry!" I smiled sheepishly before turning away. We arrived in front of a cafe, and we entered. We were seated by a very friendly looking waitress, and Kyoya ordered green tea for the both of us and she left. I squirmed uncomfortably. He kept staring at me with his cold eyes that could probably freeze Elsa.
"Um...Am I in trouble Kyoya?" He looked at me, amused.
"What makes you think that?" He leaned back in his chair, and his hands were still in his pockets. He looked so reserved and relaxed.
"I dunno," I shrugged. Well, he doesn't seem mad at me. I guess I'll be alright. I sighed in relief. The waitress came back and set our warm drinks in front of us.
"Thanks miss," I smiled at her before grabbing my tea to drink it. She left without another word. Kyoya and I quietly sipped out tea for a couple of quiet moments. He broke the silence.
"Akari, something's wrong and I want to know what." Kyoya never stopped looking at me with his cool eyes of steel. I gulped nervously.
"N-nothing's wrong Kyoya, you're just being paranoid. I'm fine and dandy." I glanced at my tea.
"No you're not. And do you want to know how I can tell? You always avoid eye-contact when you're lying. I can tell you've kept on getting messages from Erai all day, and it's been bothering you." I blinked in surprise and I looked at him.
"Uh...Er...Um..." Great. I sound stupid. I looked back at my tea so I could avoid feeling less awkward.
"Yeah..."Curse Kyoya and his observation skills.
"Who exactly is Erai? All I can gather from my sources is that he was a childhood friend of your brothers. I can't find anything that gives me a hint on why you hate him so much! I can't find much helpful files on him at all other than he happened to live in the same Orphanage as you four. Tell me everything you know about him and what his real name is." His cool mask slipped a bit, he and he seemed more worked up than usual. Now that I think about it, Kyoya had been showing more emotions than usual today. It made him seem more...human.
"Oh, so that's why you brought me here. Huh, I thought you would've known by now. Considering you're one of the best stalk- I mean uh..." Darn it. I almost called him a stalker again. He noticed and shot me a cold glare. I smiled apologetically at him.
"You said I could ask you any question, that no question was too personal or embarrassing for you to answer." His expression softened. I remembered I had said that last month, when I first joined the club. I smiled at the memory. It felt like I had been part of the Host club my entire life.
"Yeah, I did say that." I looked at my tea so I could concentrate.
"I don't know what Erai's real name is; he never told me and I never cared," I said slowly. Kyoya listened attentively.
"He's the long-lost son of the owner of an advertisement business. While in the Orphanage, he's always been friends with my brothers, but not me. Ever since we were young he was always mean to me; he was super nice and sweet to my brothers and other girls, but he was always a jerk to just me. That's one reason why I hate him." I sipped my tea.
"What's his father's name?" He asked.
"Akio Yukimura," I said nonchalantly. His eyes lit up in recognition.
"Erai's real name is Iwao," I shrugged my shoulders when he said that. Then I continued.
"Reason number two: he ruined a friendship I had with my only girl friend. She and I, we were practically sisters. But, she always had this huge crush on Erai. Because she liked Erai so much, I reluctantly agreed to help her with her love life. She was too chicken to confess her feelings for him, so she asked me to tell Erai that she liked him." I was looking at Kyoya straight in the eyes now.
"So I told him for her, since that's what she wanted me to do. Erai said that he liked her back to me. He said he wanted to tell her himself, so he asked me for help. He was lying. I didn't know it at the time of course, I was just so overly excited for the two of them. I agreed to help him, because I thought he actually was romantically interested in my friend. I pushed aside hard feelings from the past, and So he asked me to meet him someplace. I was stupid and trusted I didn't know was that he had left note for my friend to meet him at the same place he told me to meet him. My friend and I both didn't know that he asked both of us to come. When I arrived, Erai told me that he was going to practice confessing for my friend and asked me to pretend to be her. I agreed because I was stupid. Anyways, my friend saw and she never forgave me for that, she's never talked or contacted me since. Erai's father came for him when my brother's and I were about to leave for Japan, and my friend is still living in the Orphanage." I was angrily glaring back at my tea again.
"When I confronted Erai about it, he told me that he's liked me ever since we were kids. Erai also said that he was jealous that I only spent time with her, so he split us up so that he could 'have me for himself.' He's such a disgusting, selfish, snot. If he really liked me, he wouldn't tear away someone who was important to me." I tried to be calm.
"Is he actually infatuated with you?" Kyoya wore a serious expression on his face.
"No. He just finds me intriguing since I was never head-over-heels for him like every girl in the Orphanage. He doesn't view girls as people, he views them as objects. In other words, he's a sexist jerk." I nearly snarled the last part. After calming down, I looked up at Kyoya.
"Reason number three, he's my fiance." I had lowered my voice when I said that. Kyoya's eyes widened from surprise. He really didn't know? Oh wait...the marriage wasn't "official" yet so it wasn't documented on paper.
Kyoya didn't say anything for a little bit. He wore a pensive expression on his face, and then it was replaced with an angry one.
"What do you mean he's your fiance?" He nearly spat out his words.
"My brothers and I will all be married off after two years. I didn't find out until two days ago, when my father called me. My brothers don't know yet. I don't want to marry him Kyoya...But...I can't go against the wish of my father." His anger vanished. I don't know how to describe the emotion that settled on his face.
"I...I understand," he looked serious.
"After all he's done to me, he still has the audacity to think that I'll fall for him. I can't stand hearing his name but right now he's staying at my house with my brothers. It...it sickens me," I muttered my words while looking out the window.
"Why don't you tell your brothers?" Kyoya asked.
"They won't believe me. In their presence, Erai has been nothing but an innocent puppy. Only I've seen him in his true form. You...you believe me...right?" I turned my head and looked at Kyoya. He still looked cool and collected, but I knew that he understood what I was feeling.
"There isn't a reason not to believe you. You're usually honest, and I can tell that you're being truthful right now."I smiled at him. Things seemed to have changed between us all in just one day! Yesterday, I couldn't have imagined Kyoya playing the role of my diary.
"Well, now I've burdened you with my problems. Well, you kinda made me, but...it feels nice. It's like a weight's been lifted off me. Thanks Kyoya." I gave him a sincere smile. His features softened.
"No problem," he said calmly.
Our limo ride home was pretty quiet. I stared out the window, and I had to pinch myself a couple of times so that I wouldn't fall asleep. We stopped in front of Haruhi's house. Kyoya and I got out of the limo.
"Thanks again Kyoya, I owe ya one." I held out my fist. He slightly smiled, and curled his hand into a fist. He bumped his knuckles into mine. I don't know why, but my heart suddenly started to beat a lot faster when he did. He had really smooth skin...I beamed at him.
"Goodnight Kyo, I'll see ya later." He arched his eyebrow after hearing his nickname. I waved at him before jogging up the stairs and stopping in front of Haruhi's door. Why was my face red? I only blushed when I was angry or embarrassed...
I've started a new original story on called Cute City. If any of you are interested, please feel free to read it. Also thank you all very much for following, favoriting and reviewing this fanfic!